Never in my life had I met a woman like Addison Harris. She was clever, she was funny, and she was drop dead gorgeous. Even now, a day later, I couldn't keep my mind off of her. I had put fourteen hours and sixty five miles between us and still I saw her mocking grin when I closed my eyes. I leaned back in my chair and rubbed my eyes, sighing in frustration. I had read the opening paragraph of this contract at least three times now and wouldn't be able to recall a single word of it if you held a gun to my head. Why did she have to have those piercing green eyes? Those lovely lips? Those insane curves? I sat up straight and cleared my throat. Better not think of the curves.
"El?" someone asked and I glanced up to see Austin standing in my doorway. I heard Mackenzie speak up in protest at the interruption but Austin gestured toward me and told her kindly, "I'm a friend. It's- No, I'm just-"
"Mackenzie," I called and the girl popped her head into my office.
"I'm so sorry Mr. Taylor. I didn't see him until-"
"It's alright. Mackenzie, this is my oldest friend, Austin Johnson. He's allowed into my office anytime, alright?"
She nodded, wide eyed, and muttered an apology to Austin before rushing off back to her desk. I shook my head as he entered my office. She always took it so seriously. She was new and still very nervous about her role. But I wasn't admonishing her, just helping her learn. Jade had known about Austin's long standing invitation to my office but Jade was gone now and I would have to train Mackenzie in all the things that my old receptionist simply knew. Austin entered now, shutting the door behind him, and took the seat across from me. He opened a plastic bag and tossed me a gatorade and some chips. I smiled as I caught them. Austin always came bearing food.
"A thank you," he said with a smile, straightening up as he did. "For taking the Harris case pro bono. I know it's significantly less than your hourly rate."
I laughed and uncapped the bottle, tilting it to my lips and taking a swig.
"It'll do," I told him. "Really though Austin, I'm happy to do it. For Jenny and for you."
Austin smiled, "Still. I appreciate it. Jenny said you went over last night."
"Oh? How does Jenny know that?"
"Sawyer told her on the phone this morning. Said you had some really good ideas on some promising leads. I know you're trying to manage expectations, El, and I get that but they're all really hopeful anyway."
"Not all of them."
"What do you mean?"
"I get the sense the sister doesn't care for me."
To my surprise, Austin's lips twitched to a frown.
"Addison doesn't trust new people too often and she's got reason not to," he told me. At the mention of her name, my ears perked up in interest. But, trying to appear as though I wasn't affected, I nodded and turned my attention back to my monitor, pretending to read, though there could have been a cat playing a tuba on that screen and I would have taken no notice of it.
"Oh?" I asked casually. "Painful past?"
"I'd say so. Hey, when's the next time you're headed over? Jenny said something about later today?"
"Yeah," I answered, trying to hide my disappointment at the quick change of topic. "We've set up a meeting between the Harris' and the Moores'. I'm hoping we can have a bit of arbitration, try to work through the anger and get to a place where we can settle this matter out of court."
"Hm. Well, good luck with that. If I were you, I'd have a back up plan. Or three."
Austin stood then and turned back for the door. We said our goodbyes and he headed out of my office, leaving me reeling from this miniscule tidbit of information about the woman I hadn't been able to stop thinking about since I first laid eyes on her. Driven by the thought of her and the desire to be punctual in my client meetings, but mostly the former if I'm being entirely truthful, I left the office early and headed for my car and the hour long drive to the charming little farmhouse.
I pulled in the drive to find the characteristic red pickup truck gone. As it was the only vehicle they owned, that meant that at least one of them was gone. I hoped not all of them were. I parked my Lexus and made my way to the door, swatting dust from the hem of my pants as I climbed the picturesque stairs up to the porch. I knocked once and heard shuffling inside. When the door opened, I was pleased to see it was Addison on the other side. But she didn't invite me in. Rather, she was coming out. She pushed the screen door open and emerged in a pair of shorts overalls and a sports bra underneath. It exposed a delicious amount of skin on her sides and I found my eyes locked on them as she knelt to pull on a pair of dirty old work boots, her braid swinging into her face as she did.
"Mornin' Mr. Taylor," she said casually with that playfully dismissive tone of hers that made my lips curve subconsciously into a wry grin. She straightened up and blew a strand of stray hair from her face as her bright green eyes met mine. "You're early."
"I am," I admitted. "I had hoped for the chance to review some of the facts of the case with your brothers before the Moore family arrived."
She frowned at the mention of the Moores.
"They're in town," she told me. "Selling some crops to the market. Won't be back for an hour yet."
She pushed past me and bounced down the steps to the dirt path at the bottom. She knelt and gathered a few metal buckets hidden beside the flower bed there.
"You can wait inside," she told me and then those beautiful lips spread into a wide smile. "Or you can help me milk the cows."
Ever up to a challenge, I smiled back at her before removing my jacket and hanging it on a nearby hook beside the door. Then I jaunted down the steps and began to roll up my sleeves as I followed after her to the barn. I had never milked a cow before. I wasn't even certain I had ever seen a cow before. At least, not in real life. I had seen them in movies. I learned quickly, however, that the cinematic experience of the animal had in no way prepared me to face an actual one. The thing was massive with a head the size of my torso and a shaggy body the size of my car trunk. Addison led me to the first one just inside the doorway. There were ten in total, five on each side, tied into stalls by the neck.
"Some people use gloves," she said then, reaching for an industrial sized bottle of something with a pump top. "We don't."
I held out my hands and she squirted some of the liquid into my palms. I rubbed my hands together while she walked to the old metal sink in the corner and ran some water over a towel before squeezing it out, grabbing a low stool and one of the metal buckets, and coming back to me. I realized that I was still rubbing my hands together and the liquid was not going away, just spreading a thin layer over my hands. I brought it to my nose and sniffed, then rubbed it together between my fingers. I looked up at Addison.
"Is this..."
"Lube?" she asked with a smirk right at me. "Sure is."
My mouth must have dropped open because she laughed.
"It works the best," she told me with a wink and then gestured for me to take a seat on the stool that she had sat carefully in front of the cow, dangerously close I noticed. "Walk around the side. Don't get behind them. They'll kick if they're frightened and you don't want to be back there when they do."
I brokered no argument as I slid into the side of the pen with my body pressed as firmly against the iron as I could. Holding my hands out in front of me like a doctor prepared for surgery, I bent and sat on the stool. Addison was on the other side with the cloth and the bucket. She set the bucket beneath the udder and then wiped each of them roughly with the wet cloth.
"You'll have to wipe the udder first," she told me. "That's the part they hate the most. But she's tied in here to the stall so you don't have to worry about her getting away. She might move around a bit or make a noise in protest but she's not going anywhere. I tied her in myself. You've got your own cloth here. I'll get another. But you don't want any of this dirt or debris in the milk. Take your time here, you want to get the udder nice and relaxed or the milk isn't going to come through the ducts."
I nodded, trying to focus on every word she said but I was very aware of the lube covering my hands and Addison bending over on the other side of the cow.
"Okay, now here's what you're going to want to do," she continued in the tone of a schoolteacher instructing a young child. "You want to grasp the teat at the base, the top here, you see. And you want to squeeze the top between your thumb and your forefinger. Then you want to curl your other fingers down around the teat and squeeze it down. Just squeeze, don't pull."
I knew that the long cylinder of flesh between us was a cow teat but the motion of Addison's palm, the curl of her fingers and the squeezing of the muscles in her hand, had me thinking of something else entirely.
"You want to squeeze the first few drops onto the ground to clear the ducts. Like this. Then you can alternate, one teat per hand, to get a steady flow. Fill until the bucket is full or the cow is empty. Whichever comes first." She stepped back then and walked around the cow to me. She smiled down at me, poised to do her bidding, "Now you try."
I did. I reached out and grabbed the teat as she showed me, took another in my hand and squeezed the milk into the pail. One and then another. It took some time for me to get the aim down and there were a few squeezes which must have been too hard because the cow shifted in protest and Addison told me gently to slow down but overall I caught on rather quickly. Though I must admit the motion was fairly familiar to me. And I couldn't help but think about how familiar it was for her as well.
"Good," she said after a few minutes. "You're a natural, Mr. Lawyer."
I chuckled at that.
"You take these five, I'll take the others."
She was off before I could protest. I had no choice but to continue the milking. But by the time I was finished with the first cow, Addison had finished three. So by the end of our work, Addison had done seven and was now overseeing my work on my third and our final cow. She leaned against the empty pens on the other side having had the time even to send the others back to the fields and watched me work, offering comments from time to time. It was difficult not to look at her and even more difficult not to wipe the sweat from my brow in the heat. But I imagined a lube and dirt soaked forehead would not impress the farm girl and that was something I very much hoped to do.
I had, however, underestimated how hard of work it was to milk a few cows and I was sweating through my tailored shirt by the time I filled the last bucket and stood from the stool. She smiled my way as she untied the cow and sent it, slapping it's hindquarters to get it going, back into the field.
"Not bad, city boy," she told me, nodding to the sink in the corner. "Wash that lube off your hands."
She winked and I smirked back at her as I walked to the sink and did as I was told, using a fresh cloth to dry my aching hands, "That wasn't so bad. Not sure what you farmers are always complaining about."
She laughed at that, "When's the last time you heard a farmer complaining?"
I shrugged, smiling at the sound of her laughter, "I hear you complaining all the time."
She raised an eyebrow.
"About terrible pick up lines and city lawyers in suits," I recalled and she laughed.
"Arrogant lawyers in suits," she corrected.
"Right. But you have scotch at the ready so I can forgive you."
I was walking closer to her but she wasn't backing away.
"I've never met a girl with a bottle of Johnnie Walker and a gallon of lube."
She snorted then, "Seems like this country girl is more than you can handle, city boy."
"Oh, I can handle you," I told her, allowing my hungry gaze to take her in. There was no indication of her unease except for a slight shuffling in her footing. She wasn't backing down and I found that even sexier. I let my voice drop deeper, huskier, before I added, "Believe me."
I was only inches away from her now. I leaned in, my nose brushing the strand of stray hair that had escaped her braid, my lips only inches from her ear.
"Yeah?" she asked, intrigued. She pulled away slightly to look into my eyes. I thought my heart might stop at the sight of those beautiful green irises. "You ever been to a rodeo?"
I blinked at her. Women had said some pretty outrageous things to me when I flirted with them but this was definitely a first.
"There's one tonight. At the old fairgrounds. Jenny and Austin are coming. Why don't you come along? And we'll see what you can handle."
Then she placed a full bucket of milk into my hands, gathered two of her own, and walked off toward the house, leaving me standing there, one arm leaning on the post that had so recently been just behind her head, and the other arm grasping a bucket of milk. I paused to process the rejection but then laughed it off and, shaking my head, grabbed another bucket and followed after her.
Her brothers were back. That was the first thing I noticed as we approached the house. Wesley and Sawyer sat in rocking chairs on the porch, watching us curiously as we approached the house. I must look quite the sight, stripped of my suit jacket, sweating through my dress shirt, and packmuling a pair of dingy metal buckets full of fresh milk.
"There's six more in the barn," Addison said and that was all she had to say. Wyatt and Knox, who had been standing near the door, pushed off of the side and headed down to the barn to collect the rest. Wesley and Sawyer looked up from their beers, eyes scanning me in examination.
"He milked?" Sawyer asked. Addison nodded.
"Did a fine job of it too."
I felt my chest swell at the compliment but had no time to enjoy it. I heard the rumble of a car engine behind me and turned to see another old pickup making its way lazily up the drive. The expressions of the Harris' changed in an instant. They frowned, narrowed their eyes, and Addison even crossed her arms. I began, already, to regret this attempt at mediation.
The truck came to a stop and an older, bald man in a short sleeved button up shirt hopped out of the cab first, followed by a man in a crisp white suit, bolo tie, and matching cowboy hat. Then a woman hopped down from the bed of the truck, her black hair wild from the wind of the ride. She wore dirty old cowboy boots, jeans, and a floral blouse and I noticed the way Sawyer sat up straighter at the sight of her. That was interesting.
I found out quickly enough that the man in the bolo tie was the lawyer. The older man was Ray Moore himself, the patriarch of the Moore family and the petitioner of the lawsuit. The woman was his daughter, Josie Moore, and it didn't take me more than half an hour to surmise that there was something between her and Sawyer. It hadn't come to fruition yet. It was still an innocent crush, much like a middle schooler's would be, with longing gazes and batting eyelashes. We had our meeting in the living room where Wesley, Sawyer, and I sat on one couch facing the lawyer, Ray, and Josie who sat across from us on the other. Addison hovered standing at my side, arms crossed and eyes narrowed. She didn't speak the whole time but her nearness was distracting. If I turned my head a fraction of an inch I was met with an eyeful of upper thigh at the fringe of her overalls. So I fought the whole meeting not to turn my head.
Negotiations broke down in a matter of minutes. Moore's Lawyer, Clark Logan and I, tried in vain on several attempts to get the arbitration back on track, but the minute Ray Moore stated he wasn't sorry the Harris' parents died too early to set up a proper will, I knew two things. One, that mediation was not an option in this case and two, that Ray Moore was the biggest asshole I had encountered in my three years as a lawyer and, in the legal field, that was saying something. The meeting ended in forty five minutes when Wesley followed Ray out into the yard shouting at him never to set foot on their land again and Ray yelled back that it wouldn't be their land for long.
"Okay," I said as Sawyer urged a fuming Wesley back into the house. "So that wasn't my best idea."
Wesley's head snapped in my direction. He opened his mouth to say something but then just turned and stomped up the stairs. A moment later, the slamming of a door could be heard above us. Addison closed her eyes and shook her head. Sawyer sighed and turned to me.
"He ain't mad at you," Sawyer promised. "He'll be fine in an hour. That Ray Moore just really gets under his skin."
"And Josie?" I asked though perhaps I shouldn't have. Sawyer looked at me then, wide eyed and surprised. I made my tone as gentle as I could. "What about Josie, Sawyer?"
Sawyer whirled on his sister but she shook her head. She hadn't told me. He just shook his head and stormed out to the porch. Addison sighed as he went but then cast me a tired smile.
"Well, Jenny never promised a therapist," she said, walking toward the stairs. "See you tonight, city boy."
I spent the afternoon back in my office, ruminating on the failure of my mediation attempt and thinking about Addison in her short overalls, expertly squeezing that cow's teat. It was strange, perhaps, to be so turned on by such an action but I found myself eager for the rodeo by the time five o'clock rolled around. I left the office, waving goodbye to some of the associates, and drove straight for the old fairgrounds, the address of which I had gotten from Austin in the course of the afternoon. I was feeling thankful that I had a change of clothes in my office as I adjusted the collar of my shirt and straightened the lapel of my suit jacket before heading into the fairgrounds. I found Austin leaning against the metal railing of a large, empty muddy pen with a surprising amount of other spectators around for what appeared to be nothing.
"What are you wearing?" Austin asked with a smile as I approached. I looked down at my suit and then at his flannel shirt and jeans.
"Me? I'm wearing my suit. I came from the office," I answered, gesturing at his outfit in turn. "What's your excuse?"
"Her."
I turned to follow his gaze and saw Jenny and Addison entering the muddy pen from the other side, laughing happily together as they did. Their hair was tied back into double braids on either side of their heads and they wore matching baseball tees that read Harris Farms across the front. They both wore jeans but Addison's had fashionably ripped and torn holes scattered across them. There were a few other girls with them as well but I only recognized Josie Moore who stood on the opposite side of the pen alone.
"What is this?" I asked Austin, leaning against the railing for a better look myself. I couldn't take my eyes off of Addison as she threw her head back laughing at something one of the girls had said.
"It's a pig scramble," he told me.
"A what?"
"A pig scramble. You'll see."
Suddenly, someone blew a whistle and the girls all separated, going to different areas of the large muddy pen. Jenny chose the side we were on and leaned over the railing to give Austin a peck on the cheek for luck. I watched my best friend turn bright pink and smiled to myself as I turned back to see Addison leaning forward, ready for whatever was coming. And what was coming, apparently, was pigs.
At the sound of another whistle, a group of squealing pigs ran into the pen. They weren't full grown but they weren't piglets either. They were decent sized and darting all around the pen. The girls all began to run around the pen as well, diving into the mud and muck after the pigs. I felt my own eyes widen and my mouth drop open.
"What is happening?" I asked and Austin chuckled beside me.
"If they can catch a pig, they can keep it. But it's girls only. The guys wrangle calves. So Wes and Sawyer sign the girls up every year because a free pig for a farmer is just about the best deal there is."
Just as he said that, Addison dove from her spot on the railing and pinned a pig beneath her. It kicked and squealed and she rolled over, completely unconcerned about the mud caking every inch of her, and hugged the pig to her chest as she rose to her feet, the first to catch her pig. She headed for the gate and the announcer smiled and took her pig, placing it in a separate pen for her to pick up later. Then he shook her muddy hands and she jumped over the railing effortlessly and started cheering for Jenny from the other side.
"They're pretty good at it," Austin said as Jenny dove and just missed one of the pigs. "Plus, you know, it's fun to see Jenny getting down and dirty."
My brows arched as I looked at my oldest friend who was watching Jenny with a look I could easily place. Maybe I wasn't the only one with some strange barnyard fetishes. Jenny caught her pig only a few moments later and the Harris girls became the first and second to catch their pigs. Austin began moving through the crowd to the other side of the pen where the girls were and I followed after him. A few of the other girls caught their pigs as we made our way over and only three girls remained in the pen by the time we reached them, one of them a struggling Josie. There was only one pig left. To my surprise, Jenny and Addison were both cheering for their rival just outside the gate.
"Jen," Austin said when we approached and the sisters turned to face us. Jenny's face lit up at the sight of Austin and she threw her arms around him, placing a huge kiss on his lips. I watched the man practically melt.
"Austin, did you see? I caught the biggest one!"
"I saw, Jen, great job."
Addison smiled at them before turning her attention back to the scramble as a girl I didn't recognize got the last pig and Josie and the other stalked off disappointed. The crowd began to disperse then, heading onto the next event. Addison turned back to us and smiled and I felt my knees wobbling. How was she still so beautiful even covered in mud?
"You made it," she said, her eyes meeting mine. I smiled.
"Just in time apparently," I answered and then gestured at the mud pen in front of us. "Wow."
"Can't handle it?" she asked, eyes sparkling in jest at the callback to our earlier conversation.
"Oh, I can handle it. A bit of mud and milking a cow. I think I've had a day of proving I can handle it. But can you handle the city, farm girl?" I asked and she smiled.
"What's there to handle?" she asked.
"Let me take you on a date."
I heard Jenny's soft gasp from behind me but I had eyes only for her sister.
"Okay," Addison said, nodding and I grinned wider than I ever had. I couldn't believe that had worked. But she wasn't finished. "If you catch one."
"Catch one..." I repeated, unsure of what she meant.
She smiled at me before she climbed up on the railing to the first pen where her pig was kept. She lifted the gate and slapped it's behind so that it raced out into the pen, squealing again as it had before. She looked down at me from her seated position on the post and raised an eyebrow in challenge.
"Catch it," she told me, "and I'll go on a date with you."
I glanced from her to the squealing running pig in the muddy pen. She expected me to back down, I could tell, expected me to decide that a date with her wasn't worth it. But I was quite certain it was.
"Oh, right," she said then. "Wouldn't want to ruin your suit."
That did it. I smiled up at her and removed my jacket. I handed it to Austin and rolled up my sleeves. Jenny gasped again, this time louder, and I saw her surprised wide eyes matched with Austin's as I removed my tie and handed it to him as well.
"I hope you don't intend to wrestle the poor thing naked," Addison joked as I undressed. "It would be quite the show but pigs are fans of apricots and I wouldn't want there to be a mix up."
I snorted a laugh as Austin laughed outright.
"Addison!" Jenny hissed, horrified. But this sort of unsuitable banter was exactly what drew me to her. I turned to Austin.
"Can I borrow your boots?"
He complied without a word of protest, quickly kicking them off and handing them over. I pulled them on quickly and then gripped the rail, vaulting over easily and landing on my feet on the opposite side. I watched the pig sprinting around the opposite side of the enclosure and turned back to Addison. She was watching me from the top of the post, smiling as if certain I would be unable to do this. I pointed up at her with one hand.
"Any restaurant I choose?" I asked. She smirked.
"Anything you want, city boy."
I turned back to the pig, flexed my fingers, and waited. When it drew closer, I leapt, missing it by well over a foot. Jenny and Austin were cheering me on from the side. Addison was just watching on in quiet interest.
I squared my shoulders and tried again, edging my way toward it until it drew near enough and leaping again. This time I missed and it kicked mud up into my face. I stood, spitting the earth from my mouth, and tried again. It was difficult work and I was sore in a matter of minutes. But I had never backed down from a challenge before and this girl was certainly challenging me in ways I had never expected.
It took, admittedly, much longer than it had taken both her and Jenny combined but, eventually, I did it. I had been lying in wait, so covered in mud I was certain I practically blended into the pen by now. Austin and Jenny were still shouting my name, offering advice or suggestions, but I tuned them out. The pig jolted right and I dove, trapping it's hindquarters just beneath me. I crawled to the top and wrestled it into submission before getting to my feet and holding the squealing animal up triumphantly.
Austin and Jenny screamed with excitement. Addison just shook her head, smiling, and leapt from the post into the pen. She approached me and took the pig, tossing it roughly back into the smaller holding pen.
"Maybe you can handle more than I thought, city boy," she told me with a wink and then turned and walked back to join Jenny and Austin at the gate. I watched her go for a moment before following after. This was the most effort I had ever had to put in to get a date, of that, I was certain. But, watching that girl covered head to toe in mud, walking off to join her sister and my best friend, hips swinging as she went, I thought it was worth it.
On the other side of the gate, Austin slapped me on the back in congratulations and Jenny grinned as she shook her head wildly in disbelief. Then she and Addison started to walk away and Austin pulled me in another direction.
"Where are you going?" I asked.
"Showers,"Jenny called back.
"Oh, thank God." I said and started to follow them.
"Sorry," Addison called back, smiling at me. "Girls only."
Jenny giggled and turned back around to follow her sister to the showers. Then it clicked in my head. The pig scramble was girls only. Only women would need to use the shower facilities to rinse the mud from their bodies, leaving me with no way to clean myself. Austin chuckled and shook his head.
"That Addison," he muttered under his breath. "Always three steps ahead, huh? Come on, man, I know where you can get cleaned up."
Like the dutiful friend he was, Austin led me to an indoor men's bathroom inside the expo arena and handed me some hand towels so that I could scrub myself off in the sink. Then he headed out to leave me to it, claiming Wesley might have an extra pair of clothes in his truck. He returned twenty minutes later with an extra flannel shirt and a pair of jeans. I sighed and took the clothes, changing into the country fashion that the men around here seemed so set on. When I had finished, I exited to a smiling Austin.
"Now you look like you belong at the rodeo," Austin said, clapping me on the back and leading me out of the expo arena. He led me across the grounds to a much larger pen with much higher fences and a raised bleacher area. Some familiar faces were waiting for us there, leaning on the fences and looking out at the man who was riding a bucking bull to the applause of the crowd. Wesley, Sawyer, Knox, and Wyatt were there, along with Todd from the bar.
"Did the girls catch their pigs?" Wesley asked without looking up at us as we approached.
"Sure did," Austin answered. "Two of them. Big ones too."
"Good."
"Next on deck, Landon Green!" the announcer exclaimed and, to my surprise, the men I was with started booing loudly at the name.
"Why are we booing?" I asked Austin as it died down.
"That's Addison's ex," he explained and suddenly I was far more interested in Landon Green than I ever expected to be. I squinted to see the man. He was tall and muscular with a shaved head and tattooed arms. When his gate opened and the bull started tossing him around, I found myself wishing he would fall off. But he, unfortunately, seemed to have a skill for the riding and he managed to stay on the entire time frame that he was given. He rode the bull back into the pen and the crowd cheered as he waved arrogantly out at them.
"What happened?" I heard myself ask aloud. I shouldn't have. It was far too personal and these guys had no reason to tell me. But I couldn't help my curiosity.
"I don't think I should-" Austin started uncomfortably.
"He hit her," Wesley interrupted. My head snapped to him but he wasn't looking at me or at any of the other guys staring at him in shock for offering such a disclosure. His narrowed eyes, full of hatred, remained firmly planted on the waving, smiling Landon Green. "A couple of times. But the last time. The last time she finally had enough."
I turned back to Landon Green and felt my own rage rising up within me toward a man I didn't even know. I wasn't aware that a total stranger could elicit such a response from me but any man who could hit a woman, and a woman as incredible as Addison Harris whom they would be lucky to have, was not a man that I could abide by.
"Hey babe,"someone said and I turned to see Jenny wrapping her arm around Austin's waist, standing on her tiptoes to give him a kiss and gazing into his eyes with a longing that I knew struck my best friend right in his heart. He melted into her in his own greeting and Knox muttered something that sounded vaguely like "Get a room" before moving off further down the railing. Then I felt someone touching the side of my face, rubbing a finger at the hairline just above my ear. I turned to see that it was Addison touching me and my heart stopped.
"You missed some mud here," she told me with a smile, her dazzling green eyes boring into mine with such intensity that I momentarily forgot to breathe. Her gaze shot down to the clothes I was wearing and then back up to my face before she leaned in and whispered. "You look good in flannel, city boy. Now all you're missing is the boots."